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Smartphone Wars – Who Is King of the Hill?

Apple and Google have been the two biggest players in the smartphone market for some time, with both companies’ operating systems dominating the market. However, a recent research paper shows just how dominant one company has become in 2013.

By Mike Wheeler

Apple and Google have been the two biggest players in the smartphone market for some time, with both companies’ operating systems dominating the market. However, a recent research paper shows just how dominant one company has become in 2013.

And the winner is? Google’s Android by a whopping 81 percent, according to Strategy Analytics. Those left in the wake include Blackberry, which has its own problems, while Apple’s share has apparently shrunk slightly, too. Microsoft will be happy to know that its Windows Phone 8 platform has doubled in size.

And the numbers? Of the 250 million plus handsets shipping in third quarter of 2013 just over 204 million utilised one of the Android operating systems iterations. Most of the increase in share has been taken from Blackberry, whose share went down to just one percent, from an already marginal four percent. Android share of the market went from 75 percent to the aforementioned 81, while Apple’s dipped from 15.6 to 13.4.

Although the stats look like a convincing win to Google, the report was at pains to point out that where Android went for all market sectors, Apple mainly concentrated on the high-end (with the exception of the recently released iPhone 5c), and that strong sales of the iPhone 5s suggested they might grab back some of the marketshare in Q4.

And waiting in the wings is Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8-driven devices who when from just over two percent to 4.1 percent of the marketshare, mainly due to Nokia’s Lumia devices.

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